Tag Archives: Pop Culture

“Young kids don’t have jewelry. They don’t have cars, but what they do have is the thousands of dollars worth of sneakers in their house,” says Troy Reed, father of young entrepreneur and founder of Sneaker Pawn, Chase Reed.

Sneaker Pawn, located in Harlem, New York, is the latest venture to capitalize on the budding sneaker culture that is prevalent within today’s younger generation. The shop, manned by Chase and his father, offers secured loans to people with limited edition or dead-stock sneakers, which are used as collateral. The two place a value on the sneakers by checking for odors and wear around the toe box and heel counter. Just like any other pawn shop, if the pawner wants to retrieve their sneakers he/she must pay the original loan back plus a storing fee, almost like interest. In the case that someone else makes an offer on the pawned shoe, the pawner is notified and has the right of first refusal, so long as they can provide the cash. When the sneakers sell for more, the pawner keeps 80% of the profit and the rest goes to the store. Besides lending money in exchange for kicks, Sneaker Pawn also customizes and refurbishes sneakers.

Chase and his father used to be the obsessed sneakerheads who would stand in line for hours and sometimes days for the newly minted Air Jordan and Nike limited releases. Like all entrepreneurs though, the two saw an opportunity to capitalize on this hobby. Chase, 16, sold his own collection of shoes (around 200 pairs) to gather the $30,000 of seed money for Sneaker Pawn.

The store is the current holder of some pretty exclusive kicks, such as the Kobe 9 Masterpiece, the Air Jordan 6 Infrared, and the Lebron X Crown Jewels, which are valued at $1,400–more than five times their retail price. The shop has seen immediate success amongst consumers as collectors have pawned their kicks to pay for funerals, prom dresses, and even a move from the Bronx to Brooklyn.

Lebron X Crown Jewels

Sneaker Pawn is effective because it enables young people to have access to fast cash. Like Chase’s father said, kids do not always have jewelry or the expensive items that are normally used to borrow money against, but with so many investing in shoes that appreciate over time, their assets are much more liquidable.

Check out the New York Post’s article on Sneaker Pawn and check out some of the shoes the shop has to offer on their website.